Police rip civil service panel on promotions

DANBURY - For the second time this year, some Danbury police officers have lashed out at the department's promotion process.

At issue this time is the deputy chief's post - the No. 2 job in the department.
Lt.

Jeffrey Lagarto
wants it. He's been told he can't have it because he lacks a bachelor's degree. But two other lieutenants without degrees are being allowed to contend for the post.
"They not only changed the rules (to require a bachelor's degree), but they are not following their own rules," Lagarto said of the
Civil Service Commission
.
The commission said the two other men have experience, education and training that is comparable to a degree. A fourth candidate does have two college degrees.
The
Danbury Police Union
filed a complaint with the city. To union leaders, the issue is not just Lagarto, a 17-year veteran. Their focus is on eligibility rules being changed midstream and increased distrust in the Civil Service Commission, which makes key personnel decisions for the city.
Earlier this year,

Lance Brevard
, a black police officer seeking promotion to sergeant, complained the Civil Service Commission failed to place a minority member on a committee testing the candidates.
The minority member was mandated by a settlement of a lawsuit brought by black officers in the mid-1990s.
"It's obvious something is broken," Danbury Police Officer
Mike Georgoulis
, vice president of the union, said of the Civil Service Commission. "This has been a banner year for problems in promotions. I don't know if it's possible to get fairness back in this."
Civil Service Commission Mike Finn defended the panel's work. He said the commission has improved under the current administration, but the police union is never pleased.
"There is no problem with the city," Finn said. "Look at our record. We strive to bring people in of all fields and all ethnicities."
Danbury Police Chief

Al Baker
said it was his idea the new deputy chief should have a bachelor's degree. But he acknowledged he might not have made his views clear enough during the application process.
"The whole process was a little confusing because of communication problems between myself and the commission and the commission and the candidates," he said. "If we had to do it over again, we would work hard to avoid those communication problems."
Still, he said, he's comfortable with the candidates that have emerged for deputy chief. "We will not change our present course," Baker said.
If city officials reject the union's complaint, the matter will then go to the state

Board of Arbitration and Mediation
.
Mayor
Mark Boughton
said he does not have the authority to intervene because the Civil Service Commission is an autonomous body. He also doesn't think the police union had any standing either because the deputy chief is a non-union employee.
"At the end of the day, the union does not determine who the deputy police chief will be or the process for hiring him," Boughton said. "That will be determined by the chief and the administration."
Georgoulis said the deputy chief position is specifically mentioned in the city charter, which makes no mention of a college degree. Because the Civil Service Commission essentially changed city law by requiring a degree, the union official believes Boughton could step in.
In the bigger picture, said the union might not have objected to the degree requirement if it was part of the original job description posted in June. Georgoulis said it was not.
"We are not opposed to higher education, but they should at least give notice," Georgoulis said. "We are not fighting this one case," but the precedent set by the Civil Service Commission's actions.
Lagarto, who has nine college credits, said he is keeping his legal options open. He's also interested in becoming a captain, and doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize his chances.
Of the three men who were accepted to take the deputy chief's test, only Capt.
Terrace Shanahan
has a bachelor's degree. He also has a master's degree and is a graduate of the
FBI National Academy
.
The Civil Service Commission determined Lt.
Shaun McColgan
had more than enough college credits for a degree. The commission also said Lt.
Pete Gantert
, who trained at the
FBI SWAT team school
, was qualified.
"All the men we looked at fairly and equally," said Finn, the Civil Service chairman. "We looked at the records and saw continuing education" by the candidates accepted for testing.